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Just two months later, on December 18th, the Weekly Statesman reported an update on the new Star brewery:
Gustave Joseph, a 50 year old, Swiss immigrant, had previously been the proprietor of the City Hotel. However, his financial situation appears to have been less than sufficient for this brewery venture - since the City Brewery could not have cornered the entire beer market. Less than a year into operation Joseph was faced with numerous legal actions for non-payment of Promissory Notes. The following year, in 1871, he was hit with more legal actions for bad notes, culminating in a foreclosure resulting from two Mechanic's Liens. Before the year was out, Joseph filed for bankruptcy. Apparently, George Seisser took this opportunity to purchase the failed Star Brewery and resumed production shortly thereafter. The June 8, 1872 edition of the Walla Walla Union carried this ad:
Seisser operated the Brewery for a few years when in
1874, Jacob Betz, an experienced brewer arrived from San Francisco and
joined the company as plant superintendent. On November 6, 1875, an
article in the Walla Walla Union reported that Seisser had sold
the brewery to Betz. Jacob Betz - (see
biography)
While he may have been involved in mining prior to 1870, he didn't go directly to Walla Walla after that. For the 1870 Census he was in San Francisco employed as a maltster, and the 1871 San Francisco City Directory lists Jacob Betz as a maltster with the Lyon Brewery. The January, 1872 SF city directory lists him as a brewer with the Jackson Brewery. Yet the July, 1972 Oakland directory lists Betz with the Brooklyn Brewery. There wasn't a '73 directory there so it isn't known when he left this E. Oakland steam brewery, but by 1874 he had arrived in Walla Walla. In any case, he purchased the Star Brewery and was doing a fine business. By 1882, Betz had grown out of the original plant, and purchased a frame building at the corner of 3rd & Alder Sts. On an adjacent (Alder St.) lot he built a two story, brick building to house his new plant. The two story, frame building, which was at one time the court house of Walla Walla county, now served as the brewery's saloon, and had a meeting room upstairs. (pictured below) |
With the fast growing population, in part due to the
completion of the trans-continental railway, production was not
keeping up with demand. Consequently, in 1899, Betz enlarged the
brewery with the addition of a four story, brick building erected on
the 3rd street side, adjacent to the original wooden frame
structure. The business was now operating as the Jacob Betz Brewing
Co. Like most brewers of the day the bulk of their
output was sold by the keg to local saloons, with a portion bottled
for export to outlying regions. Prior to 1890 it was required that
the beer first be put in kegs, tax stamps applied, and then if it
was to be bottled the kegs were transported to the bottling house -
which was often an agent/distributor. Betz used the Walla Walla
Bottling Company as his agent. The use of external bottling agents
continued until the individual breweries found it more economical to
install their own bottling works.
An example of their label is shown below. Betz eventually
installed his own bottling shop, but not in or adjacent to the
brewery. It was located across the street on the west side of 3rd.
The beer was piped underground to the bottling works. The 1899
addition to the brewery served for a mere three years when Betz
planned further expansion. An article appeared in the Walla Walla
Union on 10 Oct 1902, detailing the plans: "Jacob Betz Will Erect Five-Story Brick at Walla
Walla - The previous
April Betz had revealed his plans for the $90,000 plant of brick,
stone and steel, and was quoted as saying:
" I want the property for Jacob Betz, Jr. We intend to erect not
only the largest, but the best equipped building in Walla Walla."
J. Betz's Star Brewery,
ca.1882
pocket knive ca.1895
Jacob Betz Brewing Company
(1899-1904)
Yesterday Jacob Betz began tearing down one of the old land
marks of Walla Walla, the old wooden building at Alder and Third
streets, preparatory to erecting a modern brewery, five stories
in height. The immense structure will be completed some time
next spring and will be one of the largest buildings in Walla
Walla."
Star Brewery, ca.1903
"Drink Betz Beer"
cap-lifter, ca.1903
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The May 1910 edition of
American Brewers' Review ran the following article: "About April 1, the two breweries existing in
Walla Walla, Wash., the Stahl Brewing Co., one of the oldest in
the state, and the Betz Brewing Co., were merged into a $300,00
corporation to be know as the Walla Walla Brewing Co. Both
breweries will remain in operation for some time, but later on a
$300,000 new plant will be erected on ground formerly purchased
by Mr. Betz for that purpose. The competition between the two
firms has been very active heretofore, and it was the idea of
curtailing expenses that the deal, which had been pending for
nearly two years, was consummated. Mr. Betz will take an
extended trip to Europe in the near future. Rather than waiting until
later to build the new brewery, construction began almost
immediately. Nor did they wait to close the Betz plant, as stated in
the above article. The old Star Brewery was closed before the year
was out, and the building did not survive much longer.
FOOTNOTES: ¹ In 1927, the son of Jacob Betz was
issued a Quit Claim Deed from the city of Walla Walla for the
lot purchased by G. Joseph in 1869, and later re-sold to the
senior Betz. The original deed on the lot was dated 15 March,
1866, and had been lost. ²
The other brewery alluded to was Meyer's City Brewery, which
would be purchased by John Stahl the following year - 1870. ³ Trustees are the major stockholders. |
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Olympian
ran the following article:
The label, shown here, carries the
mandatory, albeit short lived, Food & Drug Act guarantee of June
30th 1906.
